SE6EP3: Tetraski

When Dr. Jeffrey Rosenbluth left med school for his first job at the University of Utah in 2001, he already had a vision in mind. A skier himself, he wanted to bring that wind-in-your-face sensation of the sport to those who didn’t have the same personal mobility. Fast forward to today, Dr. Rosenbluth's pioneering initiative has led to TetraSki – a device that combines medical science with engineering to create remarkable opportunities for individuals with physical disabilities.

In this episode of Last Chair, we head to the Mobility Garage of the University of Utah’s Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital, speaking with Dr. Jeffrey Rosenbluth, along with program director of TRAILS Adaptive Tanja Kari, a six-time Paralympic champion cross country skier who was one of the heroes of the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in Utah.

TetraSki is truly a revolutionary mobility tool in sport. It features a customized chair attached to a pair of Rossignol skis. The engineering brains of TetraSki allow the operator to control the skis through a simple joystick. And if the skier doesn’t have the body functionality to manipulate the joystick, there’s a breathing tube – blow in or suck out, and the skis respond. A new innovation can also be attached to a functioning muscle, where muscular reflects are converted into ski movement.

Yes, this is real! And there are now around two dozen TetraSkis around the world, providing mobility opportunities to those who might never have conceived that they might ski.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Rosenbluth would always look for opportunities to get up to Utah for skiing. Wanting to spend his career in spinal cord injury medicine, when he saw a job opportunity in Salt Lake City he jumped at it.

“After the first couple of years of getting settled here, it was obvious that we had this really tight, enthusiastic campus – people with engineering backgrounds and clinical backgrounds, other scientific backgrounds, and then the access to the outdoors is just unprecedented,” he recalled. “I don't think there's another academic center that has this. So there was just an obviousness to where we were heading and getting people excited about building new devices and getting out there and trying new programs – that was an easy sell.”

Early in his tenure, he created TRAILS Adaptive – an acronym combining technology, recreation, access, independence, lifestyle, sports. TRAILS provided the first pathway to provide wellness programs and real opportunities for individuals. 

Kari was a young Finnish cross country skier when she visited Utah for the first time at the 2002 Winter Games. What stood out to her was that the same organizing committee managed both the Olympics and Paralympics – the first time ever! “We felt the difference in the Games for that,” she said, “in the level of expertise and perfectionism. It was just unbelievable for us.” Three years later, she found her way back and has now made Utah her home.

She found a home at TRAILS Adaptive for very similar reasons. “As a Paralympian and being involved in this world for a long time in different roles, the fact that we have this mentality and space in the rehabilitation hospital – being able to meet those patients right when they're here with us and sharing the methods of active living – is really important to me.”

It’s easy to geek out at the engineering in TetraSki today. However, the brilliance behind it goes back 20 years as Dr. Rosenbluth began mapping out the vision he brought from med school. “It was just this recognition that you couldn't just open up shop with just sports,” he said. “You had to really think about advocacy. You had to think about sports deeper than just participation – how could you be as independent at that sport as possible? And what if you didn't have transportation? You'd never be able to come and do the sport.

“I thought at first we were really more of a think tank, going through all the different ways we could take folks, especially with more complex disabilities, and get them to participate more frequently to create life sports for some of our complex patients – and then do it at the highest level of independence and performance.”

Ski Utah’s Last Chair podcast with Dr. Jeffrey Rosenbluth and Tanja Kari takes you inside one of the most innovative labs in the sport. It’s a fascinating – and emotional – journey showcasing the work being done at the University of Utah to provide the gift of skiing to those who can’t click into their bindings the same way that we do.